Safety belt



Feb. 2, 1943. i I L. E. MINGUS Q ,3 5

SAFETY BELT Filed April 6, 1942 Patented Feb. 2, 1943 UNITED STTES ATEENT QFFICE 2,310,035 SAFETY BELT Laura E. Mingus, Moines, Iowa Application April 6, 1942, Serial No. 437,745 a Olaims. (all es-134) 7 The object of my invention is to provide a safety belt of simple, durable and inexpensive construction, for use in hospitals for preventing certain classes of patients from falling out of hospital beds.

Heretofore, belts for this purpose have usually been provided with looks so that the patients cannotget out of bed until the lock is unlocked. I have found that many patients and their relatives object to such locks, and I have known of instances in which senile or delirious patients have resented such locked belts to the extent that it caused real injury to their mental condition.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a safety belt without any locks and, hence, free from the said objection and which will securely hold apatient who is insane or delirious or otherwise rendered likely to attempt to get out of bed and fall to the floor, and which safety belt is provided withtapes which may be tightly tied and which are located in such portions of the belt where they cannot be seen by the patient and are not readily accessible to'the patients fingers, and which, therefore; thepatientcannot easily or quickly untie, but which may be readily and easily moved by a nurse to'position where they may be seen and be readily accessible for untying, and further to provide a safety belt which may be quickly, securely and adjustably attached to a bed 1 spring mattress in such manner as to' be inaccessible to a patient-and yet readily accessible to a nurse. Belts of this kind are at the present time more necessary than formerly because the modern hospitals are equipped with so-called hospital beds which are much higher and narrower than ordinary beds. A further object is to provide a safety belt of this class which may be laundered and kept sanitary by the usual hospital laundering processes.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 shows an end view of a hospital bed having my improved safety belt applied thereto, part of the spring mattress cover being broken away;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the complete belt;

Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of a part of the main belt and one end of each of the other belt members adjacent thereto;

Figure 4 is a similar view showing the other ends of the belt members attached to the main belt member;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional View of a portion of the main belt illustrating the manner in i length approximately the width of a bed upon which it is to be used,'and relatively wide and preferably made of woven fabric, such as canvas. At each endthere is a strap l i sewed to the bed member ID and extended a considerable distance beyond the belt member [0 and having a snap hook I 2 attached to its outer end.

At a point adjacent the central portion of the belt member I0 a fold is formed which extends transversely of the belt member [0 and extends downwardly from the under side of the belt member 0, and its sides are sewed together, forming a relatively stiff transverse brace for the belt to keep it fiat upon the bed. In this fold I3 I place three eyelets l4, onenear each side' and one in the center, and ineach eyelet I tie a tape l5 of soft flexible material, such-as cotton cloth, by extending the tape through the eyelet and forming a knot I6 at its central portions, leaving both ends free. In the main belt member iii adjacent the fold I3 is a series of eyelets lfia.

On the upper side of the belt member is, spaced apart from the transverse center ofthe belt member lll there is another transverse folded member 11 extended upwardly and sewn" together in the samemann'er as the aforesaid-fold, to serve as a reinforcing member to hold the belt flat. This fold I1 is also provided with three eyelets i8 similar to the eyelets M.

The belt member I9 is formed'of the same material and is of the same width as the belt member I0. At one of its ends is formed an overlapping transverse fold 2!! which is sewed to the belt member ID, and at its other end there is an overlapping transverse fold 2|, the sides of the fold being sewed together for stiffness and reinforcing purposes. In this fold 21 are three eyelets 22, positioned to' align with the eyelets in the belt portion I0.

A third belt member 23 is provided which is similar to the belt member It). At one end it is provided with a fold 24 which is sewed to the belt member It] at the side of the center of the belt member l0 opposite from the side to which the belt member I9 is sewed. This belt member 23 has three eyelets 25.

The portion of the bed shown comprises a bed frame 26, a spring mattress 21 and a mattress 28.

In practical use the nurse or operator first applies the belt to the bed. This is done by passing the straps at the ends of the belt downwardly at the sides of the bed, and below the bed frame, and then inwardly to the central portion of the spring mattress, then around or through a spring, and then in a direction lengthwise of the bed, and the snap hook is then applied to an accessible part of an adjacent spring. In this manner the nurse may make the belt relatively tight to limit the movement of a patient, or relatively loose to permit a patient to sit up. The patient is then placed on the belt with the belt members I!) and 23 turned outwardly as shown in Figure 2. Then the belt member I9 is extended across the patients waist and one end of each of the tapes |8a is extended through an eyelet 22 in the belt member I9, and the ends of the tape are tied and firmly knotted together. Then the belt member 23 is turned over the belt member [9, then one end of each of the tapes I is extended through the adjacent eyelet Ilia and in the belt member In and through an eyelet 25 in the belt member 23 and back through the same eyelets, and the end of each tape is tied and firmly knotted under the belt member H).

In this manner the knotted tapes [5 are concealed from view by the patient because they are under the belt member ID and are not readily accessible to the patient.

readily accessible to the patient. The nurse, however, may have ready access to the tied tapes by first releasing one end of the belt member from the bed and turning it upwardly at the patient's side, then when the tapes l5 have been thus released, the belt member 23 may be turned over, thus making the remaining tapes visible washed and sterilized, and since these tapes are preferably of thin flexible material so that they may be tied in hard knots, they must be fre quently renewed and, hence, are made easily detachable and replaceable.

I claim as my invention:

1. A safety belt for holding patients in bed, comprising a main belt member, means at each end for detachably securing it to the under side of a bed, a second belt member secured at one end to the main belt member, a third belt memher in position overlapping the second belt member and secured to the main belt member at the end opposite from the secured end of the second belt member, and flexible tapes for tying the free ends of said second and third belt members to the main belt member.

2. A safety belt for holding patients in bed.

' comprising a main belt member, means at each Also the tapes l8a are concealed by the belt member 23 and are not end for detachably securing it to the under side of a bed, a transversely extended fold on the under side of the main belt member, having a series of eyelets, the main belt member adjacent said fold having a like series of eyelets, flexible tapes extended through the eyelets in the fold and tied to the fold, a belt member secured at one end to the main belt member and having a similar series of eyelets at its other end, one end of each of said'tapes being extended through an eyelet in the main belt member through an eyelet in the second belt member and back through the same eyelet in the main belt member and being tied to the other end of the tape on the under side of the belt.

3. A safety belt for holding patients in bed, comprising a main belt member, means at each end for detachably securing it to the under side of a bed, a transversely extended fold on the under side of the main belt member, having a series of eyelets, the main belt member adjacent said fold having a like series of eyelets, flexible tapes extended through the eyelets in the fold and tied to the fold, a belt member secured at one end to the main belt member and having a similar series of eyelets at its other end, one end of each of said tapes being extended through an eyelet in the main belt member through an eyelet in the second belt member and back through the same eyelet in the main belt member and being tied to the other end of the tape on the under side of the belt, and another belt member between said belt members secured at one end to the main belt member and detachably secured by flexible tapes to the main belt member at its end opposite from said eyelets in the main belt member.

LAURA E. MINGUS. 

